10 Things that Will Derail Your Well-Being in 2017

by David Garten

So, here we are, February 1st. Just a short month ago you promised to make this year your very best. We hope you are on track! We know how easy it is to get derailed. Don't let that happen to you. Beware the following...

1) Believing in Work-Life Balance

Stop looking for work-life balance. It doesn’t exist. You have one life. Work is a component of that life. How will you determine how you will spend the valuable currency of your one and only life?

2) Being hijacked by social media

Warning! If you find yourself engaging in never-ending threads of online point/counterpoint or spending more time reporting on your life than experiencing it, you are in danger of unintentionally sabotaging your well-being. How will you break that habit when society is doing the opposite?

3) Losing Perspective/Not Playing the Long Game

One of the greatest pitfalls to well-being is overestimating the impact of a given situation. How will you prevent minor setbacks, events, conversations, or thoughts from turning into major ordeals that will take you off course?

4) Using Someone Else’s Measuring Stick

Whether it’s the advent of reality television or just human nature, many of us view life on a split-screen, constantly comparing ourselves to others. Mark Twain said, “comparison is the death of joy.” How can you avoid the comparison trap when it is so deeply ingrained?

5) Forgetting Self

We are all juggling competing priorities—everything from raising children, managing your career, dealing with aging parents, and maintaining personal relationships. Ignore yourself at your own peril. How can you make your personal well-being a high priority?

6)Being A Turtle

When under siege turtles withdraw into their shells. Similarly our societal norms pressure us to “go it alone” or “figure it yourself.” It’s been said that isolation is the dark room where you develop your negatives. How can you learn to reach out when you are under stress?

7) Trying to Control the Uncontrollable

You have little to no control over certain situations (e.g., some health conditions, the economy, others’ behavior, the political climate). How can you learn to accept troubling circumstances that you cannot change without feeling stress, anger or anxiety?

8)Allowing Yourself to be “E-Bused”

A recent study discovered that having 24/7 access to communication devices results in elevated stress levels. The average office professional receives 121 emails and checks their email 74 times per day. How will you manage in this never-ending cycle of communication?

9) Being Seduced by Busy

Being busy has become a societal norm and even a sign of status. The busier we are the more important we feel. But with all that doing, we can easily forget what it is we actually want—in other words, we forget why we got on this ride in the first place. How will you break that cycle in the midst of this new normal?

10) Believing Everything You Think

Humans have an average of 70,000 thoughts a day and roughly 70% of them are negative. Most aren’t true. How will you manage your internal saboteurs?

About Us

Ask What Matters?! provides tools and resources to gain clarity, reduce stress, and increase overall well-being. At its heart is a set of five practices and mindset that help people engage in regular self-reflection, have open and courageous conversations, explore previously invisible options, and dare to make powerful, life-affirming choices.